Today we’d like to introduce you to Leon Feingold.
Hi Leon, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
In 2012, traveling through China for the first time, I Couchsurfed one night in Shanghai with an extremely adorable host named Yuanyuan. A few months later, I returned the favor and put her up when she visited America for the first time.
By 2016, we had attended Burning Man together twice, she had moved to NYC, and we were in love. I proposed to her in October 2016, and she said yes!
Less than a week later, she was diagnosed with terminal metastatic cancer.
We were completely overwhelmed, and I wrote one post on social media asking for help. It came from all over the world: money, personal connections, recommendations, and more. People we didn’t know raised tens of thousands of dollars for her medical care. A girl I’d met ten years earlier had become a wedding planner and put together a wedding for us and hundreds of guests in less than a week, with everything from the food to the venue to the band donated. Someone who had worked in Chuck Schumer’s office got her family flown here from rural China in 4 days in time for the wedding. An acquaintance who had once gone on a blind date with the head of admissions at Memorial Sloan Kettering got him to accept her as a patient.
All these amazing things happened not because of any supernatural effect or concerted publicity project. It was simply people offering what they could because they wanted to. And it made a profound impact on us.
At our wedding that November, we wrote and exchanged our own vows, then vowed to our guests we would find a way to pay forward the generosity others had shown us.
In January 2017, Yuan and I incorporated the House of Good Deeds, with its mission to build community, lead by example, and improve the world through Altruism, one Good Deed at a time: everyone, everywhere, every day.
Unfortunately, Yuan passed away that March. Our first community service event was giving away all her possessions to those in need in accordance with her wishes. Every month since, the HoGD has organized multiple community service events, ranging from neighborhood cleanups to food service to resource distribution to education classes to blood drives.
As of 2024, the House of Good Deeds has grown into NYC’s largest volunteer-run resource rescue organization, collecting and distributing for free over two tons of clothing, shoes, housewares, and food every month. We have four vehicles and hundreds of volunteers, and our overarching goal is to teach each person how easy and important it is to make a positive difference in their world.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Personally, overcoming the loss of the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with is still a work in progress. It’s been nearly 7 years, but there is still a Yuan-shaped hole in my life. However, I know she would’ve been proud with what our organization has become, and for every setback we’ve experienced, like losing storage or damage to our vehicles or lack of funding, we’ve somehow managed to overcome each with the support of the Altruistic community we’ve created and the friends and volunteers we’ve made along the way.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Leon Feingold (born May 1, 1973) is a baseball player from Oceanside, New York.
He was the first pitcher drafted by the Netanya Tigers in the Israel Baseball League (IBL). The former Cleveland Indians minor leaguer was named to the IBL All-Star team and was the IBL Player of the Year.
In college, he pitched for the State University of New York at Albany in 1990–94. He then pitched in the Cleveland Indians system from 1994–95, the independent Atlantic League in 1999, and also played for the Pleasantville Red Sox.
He has also gained international repute as a competitive eater. Known as “Justice,” Feingold was ranked as high as #12 in the world by the International Federation of Competitive Eating. He won the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest Regionals three times and competed in the July 4 World Championships at Coney Island three times. He was the second person in history to complete successfully the Carnegie Deli Challenge (two 3½ pound sandwiches of turkey, corned beef, Swiss cheese, and toppings in one sitting), doing it in just under two hours (Ed “Cookie” Jarvis completed the challenge the same day an hour later, after three hours of eating). He has appeared on several televised eating contests, including the US Open of Competitive Eating and the Glutton Bowl.
Currently a board member, Feingold has served as President of the Greater New York chapter of Mensa, the largest chapter of the high IQ society in the world. He was also Master of his Masonic Lodge, Perfect Square #204, in New York City… He lives in Manhattan and runs the real estate brokerage Masonic Realty, in addition to his role as Executive Director of the House of Good Deeds.
Feingold is also a polyamory activist on a national scope; he cohosts “Poly Wanna Answer?” a monthly polyamorous relationship advice column, and has appeared solo or with others to discuss responsible nonmonogamy as a guest on The View, Huffington Post (twice), PolyInTheMedia, Jezebel, and several other online, print, and television media, plus a featured spot in the HBO movie “Americans in Bed.” In May 2014, he helped launch New York’s first openly polyamorous residence as its spokesperson, broker, and attorney. He gave a TED Talk on polyamory at TEDxBushwick on March 21, 2015.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I have family and friends throughout California and always enjoy my visits.
Contact Info:
- Website: HouseOfGoodDeeds.org
- Instagram: @theHouseOfGoodDeeeds
- Facebook: @theHouseOfGoodDeeeds
- Twitter: @HouseOGoodDeeeds
